Honda responds to NSX pricing criticism

Honda Australia took six or seven pre-orders on the brand-new NSX hybrid supercar before last week’s local launch, but admits the public response to its $420,000 price tag has been mixed.

The reborn petrol-electric Honda NSX brand halo can be ordered now, with first Australian deliveries built-to-order at the brand’s Performance Manufacturing Centre in Ohio due in early 2017.

Performance- and price-wise, the Japanese supercar in the same league as the Lamborghini Huracan, Audi R8, Porsche 911 Turbo and entry models from the McLaren range. This makes it decidedly more upmarket than its groundbreaking predecessor, which changed the world in 1990.

“This is uncharted waters for us,” admitted Honda Australia director Stephen Collins, speaking local media recently, before touching on the response to the mammoth $420k price.

“It’s been mixed, I think some people expected it to $200k, 250k or thereabouts,” he said.

“[But] what I know is customers who have put in pre-orders are after exclusivity. These customers are very astute, they can buy Ferraris and Lamborghinis, what they want is something nobody else has got.

“Its been mixed based on what the expectation was.”

Globally, the new NSX is off to a strong start, with a two-year waiting list in Europe and a wait time in excess of 12 months in the US. In Australia, each order will be allocated a build slot once placed, making wait times here vague.

In order to add a point of difference, Honda Australia will appoint a Master Technician for the NSX, to be flown around Australia to each customer and service their car free of charge for the first three years (Ferrari also offers free servicing locally).

The 2017 Honda NSX is powered by a 3.5-litre twin-turbo six-cylinder engine coupled to an advanced electric drive system with two motors on the front wheels, with a total system power output of 427kW and 646Nm.

According to the brand, the NSX construction process includes a range of innovations, including “fully robotic MIG welding of the aluminium-intensive space frame”, as well as 14 hours of hand assembly by 16 technicians.

It will be available nationally from just five dealers, Yarra Honda (VIC), Scotts Honda (NSW), Austral Honda (QLD), Nordic Honda (SA) and Burswood Honda (WA).